Dreams of Presence

Throughout the twentieth century, the question of culture was a central pillar of social scientific thought. Today, however, the concept has disappeared from the academic landscape. Despite pressing political debates about culture wars, identity politics, cultural appropriation, and nativism, the concept of culture is no longer seen as a credible explanatory tool. Dreams of Presence provides a novel theoretical approach to the question of culture and will be of use to geographers, anthropologists, sociologists, and social theorists grappling to understand why culture continues to be a dominant political force in our contemporary world. Drawing on Heidegger, Levinas, Derrida, and Žižek, Mitch Rose provides an existential, rather than sociological, account of culture, conceptualizing it as a refuge where subjects endeavour to establish ownership over a life that perpetually eludes them. The book argues that culture is a claim; not something subjects ever have but something they desire; not something properly present but a dream of presence : an imagination of identity we cultivate, care for, and materially build in order to assure ourselves that we are sovereign, self-standing beings.

Throughout the twentieth century, the question of culture was a central pillar of social scientific thought. Today, however, the concept has disappeared from the academic landscape. Despite pressing political debates about culture wars, identity politics, cultural appropriation, and nativism, the concept of culture is no longer seen as a credible explanatory tool. Dreams of Presence provides a novel theoretical approach to the question of culture and will be of use to geographers, anthropologists, sociologists, and social theorists grappling to understand why culture continues to be a dominant political force in our contemporary world. Drawing on Heidegger, Levinas, Derrida, and Žižek, Mitch Rose provides an existential, rather than sociological, account of culture, conceptualizing it as a refuge where subjects endeavour to establish ownership over a life that perpetually eludes them. The book argues that culture is a claim; not something subjects ever have but something they desire; not something properly present but a dream of presence : an imagination of identity we cultivate, care for, and materially build in order to assure ourselves that we are sovereign, self-standing beings.